Post Chemo Update

So my chemo appointment went really well. I wanted to tell you about everything that happened, but first, just know that I'm feeling pretty good today.

When I got there, the nurse called me back to the "chemo room" after a sorta long wait, considering we were a little late already (damn trains). When I got back there, there wasn't a private room free, but Nurse A. (very very nice lady!) said one would free up soon. Other than 5 private rooms, there's one big room full of giant squishy leather La-Z Boy-style chairs, separated into three groupings of about 4 chairs. I wanted a private room not for the privacy, but because Mom, Dad and Susan all came. Anyway, for some setting, I was the youngest person there by about 40 years or something! I was kinda hoping there'd be someone else around me age, just for the comfort factor. But no, it was all gray-hairs. Well, pretty much no-hairs, but what was there was gray. Ha!

So a private room freed up, but before Nurse A. got back, a super old dude and his wife nabbed it. Whatever, I'm not stealing grampa's chemo room. So I chose a chair towards the back to get started so Mom and Susan wouldn't have to see me get stuck by the needle and feel some pain. I was a little anxious because my chemo port is still pretty bruised, but Nurse A. moved quickly. Though it did hurt, it was very brief.

To start, she pushed some saline into my port to make sure it was clear of an obstructions and in functioning mode. Then she took three vials of blood to test my cells and make sure I was clear and ready for chemo. She said I was in great shape for it, since it was my first time.

Then came the icky part, and it's probably not what you think. She gave me a bunch of benadryl through my port, to help ward off allergic reactions. It went in fast and strong, and I felt super duper weird. It was like getting an extra strong dose of extra strong cold medicine, and I got really woozy, groggy and drowsy. It was hard for me to move, open my eyes, speak, do anything, really. And that makes sense because that's pretty much what cold medicine does, and that's sorta what benadryl is. My mouth got dry and I felt weird for the entire process (4 hours, nearly!) and a couple hours after.

Then I got two bags of anti-nausea medicine. Those were fine.

Then the big show, which was a bag of Taxol, my first chemo drug. That went in fine, no bad reactions or anything. And because of the benadryl, I pretty much slept through the whole thing. Talk about boring. So if anyone wants to come to a chemo treatment, just know that I'll probably sleep and you'll probably read or something. Not exciting, but I'm sooo happy I started.

Afterwards I got a shot of blood thinner stuff so platelets wouldn't stick to my catheter attached to my chemo port. Nurse A. took out the needle and the sticker that was holding it in. That hurt a lot because it tore off a little of my surgical glue and my skin is REALLY tender still from my port placement surgery. She gave me some Tylenol (she's an angel) and then I was free to go!

Susan had to drive me to Walgreens to pick up some anti-nausea medicines, which I didn't end up needing today, and embarassing OTC medications for... digestive tract issues. Hopefully those will be unnecessary if I can eat right, at least that's what I'm hoping for. I'm starting to feel a little sickish now, but I think that's because I ate a lot of candy and snacks today. Didn't affect my appetite! I took a nap when I got home, but then started moving around and working on my lovely blog.

I'm anxious to see how Taxol affects me. This first week shouldn't be so bad, but I think the side effects start to pile on top of each other. Only 20 weeks to go! And in 14-ish days, I should be a baldy! :(

All in all though, not an entirely bad day!